A new piece of public art has been unveiled within the direct sightline of a huge dinosaur sculpture that was destroyed by fire on Southsea Common ten years ago this week. The artwork pays tribute to original the Southsea dinosaur statue.
The installation consists of a bronze statue of the original “Southsea Dinosaur” sitting atop a plinth made from highly fossiliferous Portland Stone. In addition to key information about the work, a plaque on the sculpture’s plinth features a QR code which when scanned with a smartphone connects to an Augmented Reality experience, showing a digital rendering of the original, 22-metre-long dinosaur artwork seemingly in front of the user, on Southsea Common accompanied by the sounds of Portsmouth City Band, who attended the original launch
Viewers will also be able to visit Aspex’s website to visit a digital archive of memories contributed by the general public in honour of the original artwork including a video of the 2010 opening ceremony.
The Luna Park Dinosaur
In the summer of 2010, Everything Dinosaur team members reported upon the installation of a giant sculpture of a plant-eating dinosaur named Luna Park being erected on Southsea Common (Portsmouth, England). The massive statue, created by Studio Morison, stood 16 metres tall. It was so large that it could be seen from the Isle of Wight. Unfortunately, a fire in October 2010 completely destroyed this local landmark.
To read Everything Dinosaur’s blog post about the fire: Giant Dinosaur Statue on Southsea Common Destroyed by Fire.
The art project was commissioned by Aspex, Portsmouth’s contemporary art gallery, currently celebrating its 40-year anniversary with a programme of contemporary art activities: “Aspex (life begins) at 40” at the gallery and on-line. The sculpture is the centrepiece of the gallery’s anniversary celebrations.
Commenting on the unveiling of the artwork to commemorate the original Southsea dinosaur, Joanne Bushell (Director of Aspex), stated:
“We are thrilled to be able to share this work – over a decade after the original Luna Park was installed on Southsea Common. The artwork is firmly and fondly lodged in the memories of local people and lives on through younger generations as a kind of myth or local legend. I stand for language, I speak for truth. I shout for history is part of Portsmouth’s heritage and we are delighted to be unveiling it this Autumn. It is hoped that the piece will generate new memories for people who live here and those visiting Portsmouth”.
To view models and replicas of titanosaurs and other sauropods: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Life Models and Figures.
Hey there, Mike! I’ve been wondering if you guys will restock the REBOR acrocanthosaurus, but I wasn’t sure where to ask. I badly want to purchase this by Christmas, but most sales I’ve been seeing are 80 dollars or more! Again, will you be restocking this figure and several other REBORs by the end of this year?’
Cheers!
We will email you about the Rebor Acrocanthosaurus. In terms of Rebor models coming into stock before the end of 2021. We are expecting more Scouts, Sweeney, Velociraptor foetus, Carnotaurus Crimson King and the “Retrosaur” T. rex Rhapsody in 2-3 weeks along with the Deinosuchus figures. The two new Smilodon figures are scheduled to ship at the end of this month, for delivery to UK warehouse late November/early December or thereabouts.